The inspiration for the title of this post:
Yes, last Christmas I rode in my care…for a day at least.
Last year my wife and I decided to drive up to my parent’s house to spend Christmas. My parents live about 1,000 miles away up in Northern Kentucky while we live in Central Florida. On Google Maps, they clock it at about 16 hours depending on the route, but it usually takes us that and about eight more.
I don’t fly (I haven’t been on a plane in over 40 years), so I don’t mind car trips. I was even looking forward to this one because we planned to spend a couple of weeks in my old hometown, getting together with family and friends for the holidays, something I haven’t done in years (I don’t think I’ve been home in over five years). Then my wife decided she wanted to bring our cats. Granted, it makes sense as we couldn’t leave them alone for two weeks and we didn’t have anyone who could stop in and look in on them while we were gone. So, I reluctantly agreed, and we made plans.
We bought two new car carriers to the tune of about $200.00. We put them in a few nights before we left and took a little drive. They howled the entire time. Still, I was optimistic and figured they’d get used to it.
They didn’t.
My wife even tried to give them some sort of ‘cat tranquilizer’ that her friend at work swore by, but I wasn’t sold on the idea. We wound up only giving them a quarter of the pill each which didn’t have much effect besides making them a bit groggy, but that wore off before we even got on the road.
So, we packed up, put the girls in their carriers, and headed out at 8:00 pm that night in an effort to avoid morning rush hour traffic near Atlanta, GA eight hours later. The girls howled for the first 30 miles on our way to the turnpike and, from there, I-75. After a bit, my wife thought they might be hungry or need a potty break so we stopped and fed them. Putting them back in their carriers, the howling continued though it was no more half-hearted than anything else and sort of comical. The older cat would howl and then our younger would follow suit only quieter as if to keep up.
Then, it stopped. I thought they had gone to sleep, but then I felt something furry on my arm and glanced over to see our smaller kitten had gotten out of her carrier1 and hopped on my wife’s chest. At first, I was going to pull over to put her back in, but my wife suggested we let her stay and that she would hold onto her. Well, that did the trick. She sat there quietly only moving a few times and seemed content. The older cat we moved to the middle of the back seat, still in her carrier but able to see more than the back of my seat and she did much better. The trick for her came when we let her out to go potty while we were still moving. She went into the litter carrier and sat there for the remainder of the trip, as content as her sister.
Besides a couple of traffic issues in Georgia, the absolute worst state in the continental U.S. to drive through, the rest of the trip was uneventful. It took us almost 23 hours to make it adding in bathroom/eating stops and things like that.
We had a great time and an even better Christmas. It was great seeing my family and old friends again. Even better were all the local delicacies I’d been missing. Things like Skyline Chili, Frisch’s Big Boy, and White Castle hamburgers!2
My only regret about last Christmas was that we didn’t decorate our home for the holiday. I mean, why bother? We wouldn’t be here to enjoy it anyway. No tree or anything, so we made up for that this year by putting our tree up in September and deciding to leave it up all year as a sort of “holiday tree”. We’ll decorate it for each holiday and make it a living room fixture.
We also put our lights out this year:
I will admit to having quite a bit of anxiety in bringing our cats along for such a long road trip. I guess it was a worry for nothing and I’m grateful that we not only had a safe trip but had a great Christmas as well.
This year, no doubt will be just as great.
If I don’t manage to get anything up here within the next ten days (I plan on doing a short post before the big day, but we know how life can get), let me wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Until next time—
So, at first, I thought our kitten had undone the zipper to the front flap of her carrier. We had zipped down instead of up, so they were in paw’s reach. Later, my wife admitted that she had put her hand in to pet her and forgot to re-zip the flap after.
I’m drooling just remembering it. If you’ve never had tartar sauce on a hamburger, a la Frisch’s, you’ve been missing out!
I'm always amazed at how far Americans are prepared to drive. I remember my aunt saying "Let's pop over to..." The popped-to destination was 200 miles away. Over here, anything more than about 100 miles requires several day's worth of provisions and notifying next of kin.
What about sleep, or did you and your lady wife take it in turns?
Great post by the way!
Well, that was just too much fun, Mark! I love Christmas, and I haven't traveled to see fam in what has to be close to a decade! Now, with my family all completely gone (Mom, Dad, bro....and with no wife and no kids), it's just little ole me, and I have to always hustle some kind of get-together with friends, which, at times, tends to get awkward, 'cause THEY'RE doing family stuff like everyone else!
It looks like you live near Boca, which is where my bro and his wife used to live in the '90s (she was GM of the Saks 5th Ave. there), and Mom, bro, and I would all meet there for C-mas. Mom and I would fly in from Austin, TX. I always enjoyed the places they'd show us in and around Boca, and the fine restaurants!
Glad you finally found a way to have the poodies travel contentedly! I do dog/house sitting here occasionally. Had we lived in the same city, I'd-a loved to have cat-sat!
I love your tree, and your tree idea. Good on you and the Mrs. for having a great idea I would be SO on board with----a revolving-decoration tree up all year! It would be a fun challenge, too, to discover seasonal items to decorate it with! I'm keeping your e-mail post handy...I may want to peruse it again a week from Sunday to keep me company! Thanks again, Mark!🎄💖